Tour de Bloom (Crit)

We had made camping reservations a long time ago in Wenatchee for this race.  A few weeks back I decided I needed a break and planned on skipping out on the Omnium.  A few days before my wife bought a brand new SUP board and saw that the weather in the Seattle area was going to suck starting on Saturday.  Wenatchee was looking good so since we still had the reservation we decided to head over.  Since I wasn't planning on racing I decided that I would only do the crit and just hang out and enjoy the weather the rest of the weekend.  My start time wasn't until 7:00pm on Saturday so that would give us plenty of time to hang out.  I'll spare you the boring details of our day and skip right to the race.

I knew the field was going to be small and normally I might opt to just wait and jump into the Pro/1/2 field but their start wasn't until almost 9:00pm and I wanted to be well into food and beer by then.  Minus a little wind the weather was perfect but as I warmed up I wasn't too excited.  I told myself that if the field was too small I'd just pack it in and head to the bar......Easier said than done.  Once you've kitted up, warmed up and rolled to the line it's hard to shut your game face down and just call it quits. so........

They had a pretty cool atmosphere going on around the course with loud speakers everywhere and several beer gardens.  We took off and right away the pace was really high.  After about three laps I took a look back and noticed there were already only five of us left.  I looked at who was still there and all of them were strong.  It was going to be a tough 40 minutes of racing.  Along with me were Martin(Este), Greg(Cycle-U/Apex), Warren(Fischer) and Jeff(Oly Ortho).  Jeff had already told me he was just glad to have made the break.  I knew Greg and Martin would want to try to take solo flyers off the front and Warren was going to be my stiffest competition if it came down to a field sprint. 

The primes were all for Omium points and since I wasn't doing all three races I told everyone I'd back off on those laps.  We got in a good rhythm and all took turns at the front.  On every lap someone always tried to attack on the short climb to see if they could get away.  I could tell when we were about half way through the race that no one was going to get dropped from this group. 

When the officials turned off the clock and started counting down laps we saw the rest of the guys up in front of us.  We were going to lap them before it was over.  I started to think about the finish and decided that with about three to go I was going to try to slot into 3rd or 4th wheel and camp out there.   Then, with one to go I made a plan to attack as hard as I could about halfway between turns two and three.  Hopefully I was the only one with that plan.  We started the final lap and right after we crested the climb and pushed through corner two I slowly started to shift up.  BAM!  I swung hard to the right and went as hard as I could.  Just before I reached corner three I took a quick look under my shoulder and saw I had a small gap.  I took a really aggressive turn through corner three and had a great line.  I shot out of corner four in my 23X11 and kicked as hard as I could.  I was all in and just prayed no one was on my wheel.  With about 50m to go I knew I had it but still went full boar to the line.  Thank God I did.  If the line was a few meters further Warren may have been able to pip me at the line.  

2013 Volunteer Park Crit

I'm not paying to race the VP Crit in the rain!  I'm not paying to race the VP Crit in the rain!  I'm not.....

Based on the forecast I was pretty sure I wasn't going to show up...well, OK, I was probably going to still show up but wasn't going to race in the rain.  I came up with other reason to keep me from racing.  I just got back from vacation and didn't touch a bike for 2 1/2 weeks.  I went Skiing all day Saturday and was feeling it.   Oh, and...It's going to f'ing rain!!  This course can be slicker than snot in places even when dry.  I'd rather save myself for Walla Walla, right?? 

So as I was watching the lower category  crashes I wondered over and handed in my USAC, if you die it's your own fault release form, $30 cash and went out for a warm up ride. It wasn't raining and some guy on the news told me it was only going to get better as the day went on.  Cool, I mean really cool.  It was only about 45 degrees when I set out but hey, it was a dry cold!  I hooked up with my teammates and by the time we headed to the line for our start the sun had burned its way through the clouds and it actually felt nice.  I love Seattle!!

This is not the typical, urban crit course.  Most consist of four or more corners set on downtown streets lined with businesses.  This course is like our Thursday Night Seward Park course that is just down the road.  Did you notice the word "Park" in those two venues?  Does that give you a vision of tall trees, green grass and people with dogs frolicking around wondering what the hell a bunch of people with lycra and expensive racing bikes are doing in their park?  Then you get the idea.  Right smack in the middle of park is a seldom used .8 mile loop that really has only one corner.  It's at the top of a short climb that leads you to the finish.  Sounds pretty simple right?  Just a bunch of guys/gals riding circles around the park on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Sounds like fun right?  Not so fast!!  It wouldn't be a real crit unless there were "turtles", manhole covers, post holes and, wait for it......MOSS.  Yes, moss!!  That Pacific Northwest "grass" that accumulates on your lawn and roof every year also plants itself on the pavement in Volunteer Park. 

I was happy to see a large group roll to the line for the start for the "Old Guys" 1/2/3 race.   With the five we had (Tom, Alex, Matt, Kevin and me) I felt we could do some damage (that's probably not the best word to use for a crit but......).  Time to test the well rested legs.

During the first couple of laps we were pretty bunched up but after that the attacks really started and that started to string things out.  As we picked up speed I started noticing certain areas on the course where guys were loosing traction with their back wheel.  It happened to me at least three times during the race and one of them caused my wheel to slide out about six inches.  It made for some tense riding.  I really worked hard to always stay near the front the whole race to minimize the the potential damages.  I attacked a few times, mainly to see how the pack was feeling and also to help keep things strung out.   The bell rang for the first time while one guy was off the front.  I was setting tempo at the front of the pack and when I say him slowing up as he rounded the corner at the top of the hill I decided to go for it.  It was a pretty good sized gap but I closed fast and nearly took it.  We stayed together along with two others and kept the gap for a few more laps.  When we were brought back Matt took over and pretty much was on the front or in breaks the rest of the race. 

It was looking good for us.  Every time there was an attack one of us were in it.  When we got just over half way through the race I was really started to tell you the strong guys were.  Rusty(Fanatic) was constantly taking digs off the front and took at least two primes. He never showed signs of ware. The Audi and Bikesale guys seemed to be really motivated and I knew Brian(Fischer) would be in the mix at the finish.    A little later things got more interesting when Alex and Matt both got off the front in a break.  Nice, I just sat stayed near the front and let other teams do all the work.  We still had a ways to go but I was hoping they could hold on.  Pretty soon another bell rang and the pack got motivated and we caught them.  Rusty shot off the front and took the prime and Tom, who said he was going to be patient for once took the opportunity and dug hard to bridge the gap.  They had two others with them and they just rolled away with only four laps to go.  At first I thought no one would let them get away but it wasn't happening.  I moved up to 2nd wheel as we raced through the downhill section of the course.  At first we were driving pretty hard but as we approached the hill the guy in front pretty much sat up and no one took over.  I got out of the saddle and pushed it just so I could get to the top of the hill first.  I didn't want to get caught napping if there was a big push from behind.  There was no way I was going to drop down towards mid pack with all the potential tire slipping that might happen when things got heated for the finish. 

Two laps to go and Rusty and Tom still had a gap.  I was still sitting right on the front.  It was hard work and I was a little worried I'd have nothing for the finish but I didn't really care as long as they stayed away.  All of a sudden I hear some yelling and then Greg and Dave?? from Audi came flying by.  GAME ON!!  I slotted in right behind them.  They were hammering.  I was starting to think that Rusty and Tom might get caught but as we got the bell for the final lap they were still away.  As we neared the climb for the last time Audi faded and just at that moment Mike and Andrew (Bikesale) came flying by.  I saw Brian(Fischer) coming up fast and I knew it was time to put it in overdrive.  I felt I was in great position going into the last turn but then the guy right in front of me slid out a little and it caused me to have to coast for just a second.  I had been positioned well to get on Brian's(Fischer) wheel on the home stretch but that little bit of momentum lost killed those hopes.  I could see Rusty and Tom heading towards the finish.  Would they make it???

Brian came close but had to settle for third.  Alex rolled in sixth, me 10th and Matt 14th.  It was a great team effort for the first crit of the season and I was really amped for Tom.  It was a tense race but we had no crashes.  On to Walla Walla.

photos by:
woodinville bicycle

2012 2nd Acsent Ballard Crit

At the end of my MoE write up I mentioned the old proverb (or contract as I'll now refer to it) "Bad things happen in threes!"  I don't know what I did to actually enter into this contract but I figured the mechanical in the TT and two flats in the road race were the three bad things   I'm good to go, right???  I now realize that for bike racing there are certain stipulations in this contract that have to be met before you can wash your hands of it.  I read the fine print I found out that it is not that simple.  It can't just be three separate incidents, it has to happen in three separate races AND in three different types of races.  I got the road race and time trial out of the way but the MoE crit went well.  Hmmm...... Ballard is up next.  OK, I'm NOT going to race if it rains!

Because of the typical weekend forecast that shows a picture of half a sun, half a cloud and a certain percent chance of rain the pre-reg for this was small except for the 4/5 field.   The course is right in the heart of Ballard and with the cobbles, uneven road, and (I've heard that there are move bars on this course than any other in the us) big crowds it can be a crazy race even dry.  Add wet conditions and......

Denise and I arrived early to claim a good spot for the team tent.  The weather had been nice all morning but just after we parked a dark cloud settled over us and it started to pour.  No problem, I'll get a nice spot in one of the many taverns to watch the rain soaked carnage.  After about ten minutes I looked at the weather map on my phone and even though it seemed like this would never end it was showing up as tiny green blip on radar and nothing was behind it.  Ten minutes later the sun was back out. OK, I'll register now.

I got a good warm up on my trainer and with about 10 minutes before our start Mark and I jumped on our bikes and headed towards the staging area.  I didn't realize that the 4/5 field was on their last lap and were coming through turn three as we were crossing the street.  I had to pay attention to all the pedestrians on the side walk and stopped watching the race.  All of a sudden we heard that nasty sound of carbon hitting the pavement. Before I realized what was happeneing a guy that was trying to avoid the carnage hit one of the hay bales head on. I had one of those slow motion "Ohhhhhhh Shiiiiiiiiiiit" moments!  He and his bike launched over the hay bail and right into me.  I was pushed up against the brick wall of the building behind us. WTF!! It took a few seconds to shake it off and get back on the bike.  I seemed to be OK.  I quickly discovered that I couldn't spin my rear wheel.  I started shouting curse words that could be heard in several counties.  Mark started asking me what I needed and was ready to grab me another wheel. Since we were minutes away from our start I went into panic mode.  I reset the wheel, readjusted my brakes and checked for broken spokes.  Everything seemed to be OK.   If there were issues with the bike I would have to get it sorted out in the pits after the start.  I also didn't have time to check the fine print in the "Threes" contract but I was hoping that would count.

Dohhhh! - photo by Dennis Crane 

You can see me standing on the sidewalk.  This is about 5 seconds after the collison when I was getting back up.  Jeeeze, it was a big, long crash.  Guys are still going down.

We had a strong team at the line that included Tom, Aaron, Nikos, Alex, Matt, Mike B., Mark, Jeff and me. We've  been getting someone on the podium pretty much every weekend so far and we figured today shouldn't be different. We were going to launch attacks early and often and if no one got away we would setup our large quad guys for the sprint finish.  There were about 65 guys lined up at the start and we were ready for the shootout.

The race was barely under way (I think during lap one) when Doug(Audi) took off hard. Tom and Greg(Farestart) soon hopped on and at some point Pete(Slalom) joined as well.   It was so early that I didn't think it would last too long.  It was so early that I didn't think it would last too long.  I was totally amped after my pre-race incident that at one point Alex had to reel me in after I rode off the front.   After a couple of laps I calmed down and was ready to do whatever was needed to keep these guys off the front. 

Even though the pace in the pack was fast we never got closer than eight seconds to the leaders.  We were doing a great job in helping to control things in the pack.  It seemed like Matt and Mike were always at the front when we entered corner 1.  They did a great job in keeping the pace down when coming out of turn two.  Things were going well and the break kept their lead lap after lap.

The ten laps to go board came up and the four were still up the road.  I had been sitting about 1/3 of the way back and decided now was the time to get to the front.  With six laps to go I was right were I wanted to be for the finish.  Five to go!  The pace picked up a little as guys without teammates in the break started to realized that they could be racing for 5th place.  I fought hard to keep my spot.   I was starting to feel the pain but knew I could last four more laps if I didn't fall back and have to fight my way back up again. We rounded turn three and BAM!! Even though we were pretty strung out through the corner someone went down just ahead of me.   We were near the front so I could see what was happening and already had a good line to get through it.....NOT!!  More guys started hitting the deck and it was coming right towards me. I drifted right but finally ran out of room and before I knew it I met one of the hay bails just past the turn.  Fortunately I broad sided it and kind of just fell onto it.  I didn't fully go down but had to unclip in order to remount.  I was actually able to get back on before most of the field went by. I was the first one of the victims to arrive to get my free lap.  I totally forgot that we only had four to go and I was quickly given the "No more free laps" from the officials.  Crap!  I was just going to pack it in but the back of the field was still coming through.  I decided to jump back in and finish things off.  It took me three laps of hell but I caught back on at turn three just before the final lap.  As we raced towards the start/finish I got out of the saddle and gunned it. 

I passed about ten guys but soon realized that all my matches were flamed out.  I slotted back in and just looked to stay safe until the finish.  I coasted across mid pack and found out that the break had survived and finished with a 14 second gap.  Tom sprinted to a  third place finish!!.  Another podium finish for the team. (insert happy face here)  I believe I have now met the requirements to get out of the "Three" contract.  The only thing left to do was to figure out which bar we were going to head to for beers.  Another great day for the team. 

all photos by denise phillips